3 dreaded goons arrested

The Social Security Cell of the police has arrested three people, including two murder accused, who were absconding.

One of the accused, Amit Anil Nalawade (23), was wanted in the case of murder of a deputy sarpanch of Narayan Gavhan in Ahmednagar district.

All three were arrested in Lohegaon. The other two arrested people were identified as Arvind Dinkar Lokhande (34), a resident of Kasarwadi, and Bharat Vitthal Edake (28), a resident of Lohegaon.

The police also recovered a country-made pistol and two live cartridges from their possession. Nalawade is a key accused in the murder of Sitaram Kandekar, the deputy sarpanch of Narayan Gavhan. The murder was committed last year and Nalawade had been absconding since then.

Lokhande was also allegedly involved in a murder, that of one Akash Mhapare. The stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) was also invoked against him.

The accused allegedly murdered Mhapare and dumped his body near Limbgain in Khed taluka three months ago.

Senior Police Inspector Bhanupratap Barge said the three accused were dreaded goons. He said four cases are registered against Nalawade in the city and one case in Ahmednagar.

"We received a tip-off from our informers that the accused would be coming to Lohegaon and we laid a trap and arrested them," he said. He said Nalawade and Lokhande would be transferred to the Ahmednagar police in the murder cases.